portion

Etymology

From Middle English porcioun, borrowed from Old French porcion, from Latin portio (“a share, part, portion, relation, proportion”), akin to pars (“part”); see part. Compare proportion.

noun

  1. An allocated amount.
  2. That which is divided off or separated, as a part from a whole; a separated part of anything.
  3. One's fate; lot.
  4. The part of an estate given or falling to a child or heir; an inheritance.
  5. A wife's fortune; a dowry.

verb

  1. (transitive) To divide into amounts, as for allocation to specific purposes.
  2. (transitive) To endow with a portion or inheritance.
    Him portioned maids, apprenticed orphans, blest. 1733, Alexander Pope, Epistle to Bathurst

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